


The Doctor and the Captain

by shadowstone



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Feelings (so much feelings), Future regeneration of the Doctor, M/M, Mentions of Martha, Mentions of Ninth Doctor - Freeform, Mentions of River, Mentions of Tenth Doctor, Team TARDIS, mentions of Clara - Freeform, mentions of rose - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 17:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19407988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowstone/pseuds/shadowstone
Summary: Nothing ever stays the same, does it? The Doctor sighed. Everything changes, even Jack. This Jack was old, impossibly old. He could feel it in his bones. This wasn’t the Jack he had left all those lifetimes ago.It seems that it was finally time for the Doctor to re-evaluate his relationship with the Captain.In other words, the Captain and the (Future) Doctor finally had a conversation after years and years of doing their own thing in the Universe and finally got together.





	The Doctor and the Captain

**Author's Note:**

> This was written about the same time as my other Doctor Who fanfic _(Parallels: Dancing on my Own)_ which I posted a few years ago here. Which means I wrote this sometime in the middle of the Eleventh Doctor seasons so if there are any characterization discrepancies to the characters, I apologize. Comments appreciated. 
> 
> Of all the companions, I've always adore Captain Jack and I really think that the Captain and the Doctor fits well together on every level, as a friend, as a partner and as a lover, so this was pretty much my take on a possibility on how they could finally be together. 
> 
> General disclaimers apply: All characters belong to the BBC and their creators.

He found himself back at this one spot, over and over again throughout the years.

Sometimes it was when he was still in bow ties and fedoras. Other times he was dressed in a rock-star outfit (don’t ask). Once he was even a woman! Now that had been fun.

Regardless of whom he was and what he was wearing, he’d always woken up alone in this place, propped up against this giant tree, clothes worse for wear but alive and wounds tended to. And it was usually after some dangerous adventure that he was positive would be his last.

Today was different though. He felt it long before he opened his eyes and saw him. 

Apart from some stray grey hairs, the man still looked as youthful as he was when he first laid eyes on him all those thousands of years ago. A Captain displaced in time. A Fact.

But nothing ever stays the same, does it? The Doctor sighed. Everything changes, even Jack. 

Charming blue eyes which had once twinkled with the joys of carefreeness are now filled with a heavy weariness that could only come from the burden of time. A burden he knows only too well.

“Jack.”

“Doctor.” 

“You saved me?” 

Jack nodded in acknowledgement. The Doctor had long suspected that his mystery saviour was the Captain but could never prove it before now. How many times had it been? 10? 20? 

15\. The Tardis whispered in his mind. He had woken up in this place 15 times.

“How?” 

How did you save me? Where is this place? How did you recognize me? He had so many questions he wanted to ask the Captain but he finally settled for the one that mattered. The one that Jack would choose to answer on his own terms.

This Jack was old, impossibly old. He could feel it in his bones. This wasn’t the Jack he had……left all those lifetimes ago.

He hadn’t seen the Captain for several regenerations now. Somehow Jack had managed to evade the Tardis all these years, always slipping away from sight once he had located him. Or were they in cahoots together? He frowned as the unbidden thought floated through his mind. It would explain how the Tardis would always end up here with him when moments before she was nowhere near him whenever he was about to get maimed, tortured or shot. But why would she? Didn’t she once try to shake the Captain off by literally running to the end of the universe? He chuckled lightly at the memory. Only Jack would have the audacity and foolhardiness to try and survive the attempt. Well, mostly survived. He remembered how frantic Martha had been when she thought he was dead.

“I’m a Fact.” Jack shrugged. “It has its benefits.”

Things then immediately clicked into place. Of all of the people who could find a way to save him across multiple regenerations and timelines, it would be Jack. Clara did it once by throwing herself into the time-streams to save him and she had been mortal. It wasn’t that far of a stretch to believe that Jack had somehow managed to find a way to do something similar, given his uniqueness. 

Upon realizing that the Captain wasn’t going to elaborate further, he turned his attention to the other constant in his memory of this place. 

“You did something to the tree.” He asked in an almost accusatory tone. There was something unnatural about the Tree. He couldn’t put a finger to it, well he could, it had felt all woody and tree-like, but it was like it was out of time and yet existed in all the time-streams and dimensions. It felt wrong. It felt like……it felt like Jack.

His eyes widened in realization as he finally sensed and saw the faint energy transfer to the tree. It felt like Jack…… because it was Jack! The Captain had transferred some of his life energy to the tree! But how…? Why?

Gently caressing its trunk with his right hand, Jack looked lovingly at the giant tree which seemed to be more alive with his every touch as he pondered over his answer to the Doctor. 

“I just wanted to have something that lived as long as I do.” Try as he might, he couldn’t hide the pain in his eyes. Time was something he was never short of now.

“Jack……” Guilt washed over him and he made a move towards him. The Doctor realized, with a deep sense of regret, that this Jack, who had probably lived for millions of years, was now so far away from him. He was filled with a sudden inexplicable longing to see Jack, the one who was still young enough for him to stand in front of, to awe, to inspire, to …… understand. 

“Don’t get me wrong.” Sensing the Doctor’s discomfort, Jack stretched out his arms, tilted his head to the side and grinned. “Life is still fantastic but it does get rather lonely.” 

The Doctor stopped in his movements and lowered his eyes. He understands all too well. It never gets easier, the pain of losing his companions. How much worse would it have been for him? Jack, who had so much love to give……and so long to live? His hearts constricted with the pain and suffering he knew the other must had gone through. Two impossible beings in the universe, Clara would have been the other but she’s gone now. Scattered throughout the time streams. But Jack is still here.

“Come with me?” The words were almost out of his mouth before he swallowed them – _hard_. 

No. He shook his head. It didn’t feel right… …not with their history, not with what they were now, not with the number of years stretched between them. When was the last time he had actually spoken to Jack? Two regenerations ago? Or was it more? 

He had forgotten. 

_He had forgotten._

Somewhere along the regenerations, the Captain had slipped into the back of his mind and the knowledge that he had allowed himself to do so hurt with an intensity that he hadn’t thought possible before today. No, he couldn’t ask him to join him as a companion. Not with the years of silence between them. Not anymore. He had no right to. And he wasn’t sure if the Captain still wanted to. 

As if sensing his inner turmoil, the Captain smiled, bemused at the Doctor’s sudden hesitation and subsequent silence. This regeneration seemed to be the silent, introspective type, a far cry from the more verbal Doctor he was the most familiar with. Despite it all, he still misses them. The leather jacket him and the suit with converse shoes him. His two favourite regenerations but he’ll be damned if he ever told the Doctor so. After all, Jack tries not to play favourites. He really does love them all, even if it was from a distance.

After spending a couple of minutes waiting for the Doctor to speak up and, upon realizing that he wasn’t going to, Jack stepped away from the tree and gently dusted his coat. 

“Well then, guess this is it. I hadn’t planned to stay but I’d missed you.” 

The last few words were spoken softly. Truth be told, Jack had missed talking to someone who knew him when he was still normal, well as normal as a time-travelling con-man could be, and the Doctor was well, the Doctor. He could never keep himself away for long, even if it meant being in the shadows. Someone had to take care of the Doctor. God knows, he doesn’t, what with all the situations he gets himself into. 

“Please do take care of yourself.” 

“Goodbye Doctor.” 

“Live Long and Prosper.” He gave a wry grin to the Doctor’s confusion at his final words. He would have thought that in all these years and regenerations, the Doctor would have at least seen Star Trek once. Jack’s smile widened as the memory of meeting the Doctor for the first time brought a feeling of nostalgic warmth inside him. _Rose. Team Tardis._ Despite the pain and the endless amount of time it eventually brought him, he never once regretted meeting the both of them. He loved them. He will always love them both. 

Across from him, the Tardis suddenly whirred into life, filling the silence between them with its low humming. 

Goodbye Old Girl. Till we meet again. 

With a final salute to the Doctor, Jack turned and started to activate his Vortex Manipulator. Honestly, he had no need of the tool to move around time and space now but old habits die hard. Plus, there was a comfort in the familiarity of using it. His very own Tardis in a way, he supposes with a wry grin. 

“Jack!” The Doctor cried out suddenly, without realising he had actually spoken. His hearts had lurched when he realized that Jack was about to teleport out of here and without thinking, a question he never knew he had soon came tumbling out.

“Can I come with you?”

Jack blinked in surprise, stopping his hands in mid-air. After all these years, he thought nothing the Doctor did would surprise him anymore. Evidently, he was wrong and by the looks of it, he was not the only one who felt so too. The Doctor had freeze up after hearing his own words and realizing what they had meant.

“Doctor?” 

Did he really just say that? Did he really want to follow Jack? Why would he ask such a thing? _Why?_ The Doctor searched through his thoughts frantically and was suddenly struck with an odd tingling sensation in his chest. If it was any other time, he would have excitedly prodded at his chest and pondered loudly about it but as it was, his attention was preoccupied with something else. Or rather, a certain someone else. 

The Doctor thought back to all the times the two of them had spent together. The cheeky banter, the insufferably charismatic advances and subsequent rejections, oh, and running, he chuckled. There had been _so much_ running. 

Running away from danger, running towards danger, running away from him…… there really was a lot of running between the two of them, wasn’t there?

A sudden thought arose from his reminiscence. Perhaps then it was time to stop running and consider an alternative?

Both of his hearts fluttered in response with a sudden resolution and extreme longing. He took a moment to ponder his reactions and yes, the Doctor had finally found his answer. He wasn’t ready then but now — he closed his eyes and allowed that strange tingling sensation in his chest to reach out and took over all of his senses — now he wanted to go with Jack. He was sure of it. 

The Doctor and the Captain, he smiled, it does have a rather nice ring to it. The Tardis hummed in approval. 

Spying on my thoughts, eh? Devious old girl, aren’t you, but no matter. _Thank you for bringing me to him._

“Can I come with you?” 

The Doctor opened his eyes and repeated his words softly but surely. He looked straight at the Captain, his eyes shining with a brightness that Jack had only seen once, back when they had managed to save everyone. It was also at that very moment that Jack knew he had fallen in love with him. 

_Can I come with you?_ Both of them knew what the Doctor’s question had really meant. They were both too old now not to know otherwise.

Searching the other man’s face, his disbelief and surprise soon gave way to a warm smile as Jack realized that the Doctor had truly meant his words. 

“Always.”

And just like that, the loneliness and pain of enduring time was slowly but surely starting to melt away.

They continue gazing at each other, both lost in the memories of the other. Both coming to terms on what this new development would mean for the two of them now. 

As usual, it was the Doctor that broke the silence. 

“So how did you save me, Jack? And where is this place? How did you even know I was in danger? Have you been speaking to River? Wait, have you met River? When?”

Jack grinned at the rapid questions being thrown at him once the Doctor had accepted the change in their status. His initial assessment of this Doctor? He totally takes that back. This regeneration is in no way a silent, introspective doctor. 

“All in due time, Doctor…… all in due time.”

The Doctor folded his arms, pouted and declared loudly, “You’re as bad as River.”

“I would hope so!” Jack laughed. “She’s some lady alright.”

“That she is.” The Doctor agreed. “So you have met River!” He exclaimed in satisfaction. 

“The question you should be asking is which lady acquaintance of yours that I haven’t met?” Jack replied with a teasing smile. He was never jealous of any of the Doctor’s companions. They were all special, some more than most, and were what the Doctor needed.

“So…… to the Tardis?” Jack quipped, the slight quiver in his voice betraying his confidence. He still wasn’t fully convinced that this was real. For all he knows, this could very well be a dream. It has happened before when the depth of his loneliness rose up and threatened to drown him and his mind had conjured up something similar to keep him from falling into despair. 

“To the Tardis” The Doctor affirmed. “Unless you can fit a Tardis in there, I can’t very well leave her here, can I?” Gesturing to the Vortex Manipulator, he smiled cheekily in a way that reminded Jack of the Doctor when he was in his pinstripes and converse shoes. 

What a long way from then the both of them are now.

Jack chuckled, his heart lighter than it has been for years as he finally, finally allowed himself to believe that this was really happening. 

“Oh and Jack?” The Doctor stuck his head out the door of the Tardis. He had gone on ahead as Jack took a minute to gather his thoughts. “Buy me a drink when we get to wherever we are going, will you? I think it’s long overdue.”

“But it’s so much effort!” Jack complained loudly with a twinkle in his eye.

The Doctor blinked and paused for a millisecond before grinning and pulling him in closer to him. Jack leaned in and just as it seemed that Doctor was going to kiss him, he pulled away at the last moment and laughed. 

“But worth it.”

Oh, this Doctor was a playful one and a tease to boot. Jack's eyes lit up. He has a feeling that this Doctor might very well become his favourite regeneration in no time at all. 

“Jack, shall we?”

The Doctor looked at him, his right hand outstretched as he waited patiently at the door for Jack. His Captain. _His Jack._

“We shall.” 

Jack took his hand, fingers slipping into the other naturally as if it had always belonged there, allowing himself to be pulled into the Tardis and into the arms of the Doctor. _His Doctor._

The Doctor and the Captain. 

As it shall be and would be for many lifetimes to come.

The Tardis dematerialised as a tiny sapling sprouted from the ground next to the tree.


End file.
